1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to semiautomatic firearms, and particularly to such firearms having a lighter cocking action and less felt recoil.
2. Description of Related Art
Semi-automatic pistols commonly include a slide normally biased in a forward position on the frame, but movable rearwardly of the frame by the recoil produced by a fired cartridge. A recoil spring is coupled to the slide and is compressed as the slide moves rearwardly of the frame. As the slide clears the magazine below and reaches the slide stop, the recoil spring urges the slide back to its original position and loads another cartridge from the magazine into the chamber. Such pistols are initially loaded by inserting a magazine of cartridges into the butt of the pistol, and then manually drawing the slide back against the action of the recoil spring, and then releasing it, to load the first cartridge into the firing chamber and to cock the hammer. After each firing of a cartridge, the pistol thereafter utilizes the recoil produced by the firing of that cartridge to cock the pistol for the next cartridge, and introduce a new cartridge into the chamber.
Manually pulling back the slide to load the first cartridge requires a substantial manual effort, typically in excess of 5-10 pounds of force. Such a large manual force may be difficult to apply for certain persons without the required strength to operate the pistol, particularly by some women or older persons. Moreover, this large manual force to initially load the pistol may limit the strength of the recoil spring that may be used, and thereby the recoil action absorbed by the recoil spring.
Over the years, a number of devices have been developed in connection with semiautomatic firearms to either reduce the cocking effort or felt recoil when firing, including U.S. Pat. No. 4,173,169 to Yates; U.S. Pat. No. 4,201,113 to Seecamp; U.S. Pat. No. 4,344,352 to Yates; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,955,696 to Meller. While these devices may be suited to their specific applications, they do not provide the benefits achievable through use of the present invention.
What is generally needed is a semiautomatic firearm which enables easier or lighter cocking action than is available in current semiautomatic firearms. The lighter cocking action should permit easier loading of a first round from the magazine to the chamber, but should also permit the recoil spring to resume normal function during firing and subsequent loading of rounds from the magazine. Finally, the improved mechanisms described herein should be implemented in a manner that avoids or minimizes additional weight or volume to the resulting firearm.